Manchester City announced on Friday that it had appealed the verdict of an independent commission mandated by the Premier League declaring the club guilty of “serious” financial offenses between 2009 and 2018, a case which caused an earthquake in English football.
“The club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists to support its positions in this matter,” the club owned by an Emirati fund said in a statement, specifying that the appeal had been filed Thursday evening.
“Major consequences for the integrity” of football
Violations of financial regulations by Manchester City have had “major consequences for the integrity” of football, the English Federation commented on Friday in a first reaction to the scandal revealed on Tuesday.
The body specifies in its press release that it “carefully analyzes the conclusions (of the investigation carried out by the Premier League) and its implications” in order to take appropriate measures.
The sanction must still be decided
The Premier League, the most prestigious football championship in the world, found Manchester City guilty of “serious” financial offenses between 2009 and 2018, in particular for having artificially inflated its revenues and reduced its costs by more than 900 million pounds (more than a billion euros), which the club owned by an Emirati fund refutes. A sanction must still be pronounced, on an unspecified date.
The team from the north of England, which belongs to Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, a member of the royal family of the United Arab Emirates, risks, in the most severe scenario, the loss of several titles and exclusion from the championship.
Since its passage under the UAE flag, Manchester City has won eight Premier League titles and the Champions League in 2023.
